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3 Tips to Radically Improve Your Finances in the New Year

2014 is quickly coming to an end which means people will be sitting down to make their lists of resolutions [1] in the New Year. Most will focus on losing weight and improving their finances [2].

Improve Your Finances in 3 Steps

When it comes to your finances, I am going to give you 3 tips to radically improve your finances. The best part is that they are easy to put into action. In fact, I’d argue that they are the easiest things you can do to change your circumstances and they will have a huge impact in the long run! What are these tips? Read on to find out!

Be Like The Rich

What do the rich have that we don’t? Money! How did they get that money? Most worked for it, while some inherited it. But at the end of the day, they all had to save it in order to become millionaires [3]. After all, if they spent all of their money, they wouldn’t be millionaires would they?

Save your money. The way to do this is to simply automate [4] your savings. Look at when you get paid this year. If you are lucky, you get paid either weekly, on the first of the month, or on the 15th and the 30th. In these cases, setting up an automatic transfer is easy. Just pick an amount to save and schedule it for your payday. When your paycheck is deposited in your checking account, your bank will transfer money over to your savings account for you automatically.

All you have to do is take the 10 minutes (probably less though) to set up the transfer and you are done. No more work! How awesome is that? When you look at your checking account, you can freely spend every last penny because you already saved money.

Now, for those of you that get paid bi-weekly, things get a little trickier since payday is a floating day. For me, I would just pick a day to have the transfer happen. Your bank may have an option to transfer based on a bi-weekly paycheck, but not many do. So, you might just have to pick a day and go from there. The key though is to set up the automatic transfer.

Change Your Outlook

Most of us beat ourselves up. We think we aren’t good enough – whether with work or with money – we aren’t attractive enough, we aren’t smart enough, etc. All of these have the same thing in common: they are all negative outlooks. When we keep thinking negative things, we start believing them and acting accordingly.

Here is an example of what I mean: Let’s say money is tight. We keep thinking how we don’t have any money and we stop doing things that make us happy so we can save money. As we continue to think about not having money and not doing anything so we can save money, we get depressed and angry at the world. This cycle continues and we keep thinking about how we don’t have any money. When we see others doing well financially or catching breaks, we get resentful and lash out. Next thing we know, we hate the world and life in general.

Stay positive. You can change all of this by simply changing your outlook. Even if money is tight, you still have to stay positive. Know that your circumstances will be changing. Focus on the rebate you received in the mail. Celebrate the good times you have with friends while sticking to a budget. When you change your outlook from a negative one to a positive one, you will slowly see changes in your life – positive changes.

One final note on this point. If money is tight, I am not suggesting you be oblivious to it and spend irrationally. You need to stick to a budget [5], but you should stay positive and focused on the good things that doing so will bring.

Get Out!

The final tip is to simply get out. Not go outside for a walk, but get out and interact with people. In other words, network. You will be amazed at the opportunities that come your way by simply meeting new people and expanding your circle.

I’ve had great success blogging by simply networking. I’ve had interviews for jobs that weren’t even posted because I networked with people and they thought of me when they found out a company was thinking about adding a new team member.

You know the old saying, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”? It’s true. By getting to know the right people, you can propel your life and your finances higher.

Bringing It All Together

These 3 tips are like a cycle. Start out by changing your outlook. Expect great things to come into your life and to have your money issues solved. As you are changing your outlook, begin saving by creating an automatic savings plan. This will reinforce your positive outlook. You will see your bank balances grow, which will put you into a positive state of mind much easier.

From there, begin to network more. For all you know, you might find a great job opportunity that pays you more money [6]. You will be able to save more in your automatic savings plan and your confidence and your outlook will continue to improve. See how each of these things feed off of each other?

These tips won’t take up a lot of your time. Ten minutes to set up a savings plan and a few minutes each day when you catch yourself feeling sorry for yourself. The biggest time commitment will come from networking. But, you can network doing the things you love to do by joining groups. It’s not like you have to do the formal networking thing. Join a mountain biking club or a craft club. You can find groups on meetup.com [7]. The key is to make networking enjoyable so you keep at it.

If you follow these tips, by this time next year, your finances will be radically improved!

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